Leveraging ITIL to Manage Your Virtual Environment. Laurent Mandorla, Manager Fredrik Hallgårde, Consultant BearingPoint, Inc.

Transcription

1 Leveraging ITIL to Manage Your Virtual Environment Laurent Mandorla, Manager Fredrik Hallgårde, Consultant BearingPoint, Inc.

2 Agenda Introduction VMware: Great promises, but some significant challenges Impact of virtualization on specific ITIL operational processes Fault and Performance : Monitoring the health and performance of a virtual environment Configuration : discovering and tracking virtual Configuration Items Capacity : managing the growth of your virtual infrastructure Conclusion

3 Introduction IT Organizations small and large have steadily been adopting x86 server virtualization over the past 5 years VMware is approaching mainstream as a production-ready technology, and moving beyond being only a test and development platform However, as virtual machines are moving to production, their management is becoming critical to the success of IT operations The tools and management capabilities related to x86 server virtualization are still relatively immature Gartner, Server Virtualization Produces a Shift in Server Shipments 3 April 2006 Jeffrey Hewitt, Thomas J. Bittman, John Enck, Jonathon Hardcastle, Adrian O'Connell, Errol Rasit, George J. Weiss

4 VMware: Great promises, but some significant challenges

5 VMware a paradigm shift with great promises Lower Hardware costs Better utilization of infrastructure Agility to roll out new services Zero down-time for hardware maintenance Smaller overall footprint Easier and cheaper management Did you achieve this promise?

6 Stages of a Virtual Deployment Business Case Pilot and Testing Operational Readiness Production Deployment Crash and burn Risks: Rolling out VMware without planning for operational impact Perception that VMs will be managed like physical servers No strategy to integrate VMware tools into Enterprise System architecture Tool-focused approach that neglects operational processes The Simpsons TM and Twentieth Century Fox and its related companies

7 Do you have issues? Controlling the sprawl of VMs Assessing the impact of a change on VMs and applications Tracking where VMs have run in the past, and where they run now Measuring how much resources VMs use Reporting on SAN storage used by each VM Viewing your infrastructure end-to-end Understanding the impact of a hardware fault on VMs, applications and endusers

8 VMware : a paradigm shift It used to be one server in one box using one LUN......now we have multiple servers in the same box and on the same LUN and they move around! Logical Server Server Logical Server Logical Server Physical Server Logical Server (ESX) Physical Server Ethernet Switch SAN Switch Storage Array Ethernet Switch SAN Switch Storage Array LUN of large virtual environments requires an integrated approach VMDK VMDK LUN VMDK

9 VMware poses specific operational requirements Facilities Integration of VirtualCenter console into other consoles and portals Planning for KVM phase-out or consolidation Review of sizing of HVAC and Power People Documentation for required skillsets to manage a VMware environment Hiring VMware specialists Developing training plan for VMware, VirtualCenter, P2V Organizing your teams Training on updated processes Processes Re-engineering of processes where significant impact exists, e.g. Change Re-writing procedures, for example server reboots Investigation of new key performance indicators and reviewing the old Technology Integrating VirtualCenter into enterprise management tools Developing a strategy for the management of the new VMware Infrastructure layer Developing a plan to remediate the implications of VMotion ( servers can move )

10 Impact of virtualization on ITIL operational processes

11 What is ITIL? ITIL is the IT Infrastructure Library, a definitive industry library focused on Best Practices for the management of Information Technology De-facto industry standard for IT Service Developed by the CCTA of the UK Government Standardized Approach & Terminology Publicly Available Industry Supported Software and Tools T H E B U S I N E S S The Business Perspective Planning to Implement Service Application IT Service Service Support Service Delivery ICT Infrastructure Security ITIL is a registered trademark of the OGC (Office of Government Commerce)

12 The goals of ITIL ITIL is aimed at maximizing the ability of IT to provide services that are cost-effective and meet the expectations and needs of the business Streamline service delivery and support processes Develop and document repeatable procedures Reduce number of service incidents and outages Implement standards to do things right the first time Perform proactive analysis, prevention and resolution Plan for, and ensure, future capacity Define clear services and service targets Accurately allocate and recover costs Audit, manage and improve IT processes

13 ITIL and Service IT Service is the best known and most mature aspect of ITIL. Service Delivery Planning focused Business Facing Requires solid Service Support disciplines T H E B U S I N E S S The Business Perspective Planning to Implement Service Application IT Service Service Support Service Delivery ICT Infrastructure Security T H E T E C H N O L O G Y Service Support Ongoing IT work Oil and Grease Event Driven More reactive in nature More challenging for traditional IT organizations, provides the planning for business alignment Good starting point for implementation, immediate relief

14 ITIL Within BearingPoint s Model The ITIL Service processes provide a great foundation for an IT operations process model, and may be complemented with other relevant functions and models Delivery Support IT Elements IT Layers IT Business Layer IT Service Layer IT Infrastructure Layer Strategic Planning Vendor & Outsource Financial For IT Services Service Level Availability Capacity Planning & Engineering Security Technology Middleware Storage Network Desktop Mainframe Server Configuration Change Release Inventory Application IT Quality IT Asset IT Service Continuity Problem Incident Service Desk Performance IT Operations Fault/Event Database Internet Intranet Core ITIL Service functions

15 Impact of virtualization on ITIL functions Almost all ITIL and Service functions are impacted by the move to a virtual infrastructure. In the interest of time, we will now focus on: Fault and Performance Configuration Capacity but there is a lot more to be said! Stay tuned

16 Fault and Performance Monitoring the health and performance of a virtual environment

17 Fault and Performance Overview Fault : Detect and handle conditions within the IT infrastructure that could lead to service degradations. Performance : Ensure that the maximum value of IT infrastructure resources is obtained through pro-active threshold monitoring, trend data collection, performance tuning and meaningful reporting. Key Objectives: Proactively detect conditions that can lead to service disruption Determine root cause and business impact of failures Quickly and consistently handle IT infrastructure events/faults Support proactive performance adjustments and planning Ensure resources and services perform according to SLAs

18 Impact of virtualization on Fault and Performance Activity Define thresholds and alerts Impact of Virtualization New Virtual Infrastructure layer needs to be instrumented Instrument monitoring technologies Automate filtering and correlation Document troubleshooting procedures Provide performance reports Optimally tune infrastructure New tool purchase or development may be required Discovery and mapping of ESX servers, VMs, and the applications and IT services Some updates and re-writes of troubleshooting procedures required New Virtual Infrastructure data collections and reports have to be defined and implemented New opportunity: tune server characteristics on the fly to optimize performance

19 Addressing the challenges Sample Tools Determine relevant and actionable metrics and alerts Instrument the ESX virtual layer Discover and map the topology Update procedures Define reporting requirements

20 Illustration - Sample reference architecture Operations Portal MoM Console Service Views Performance Reports SNMP / Proprietary / SDK Manager of Managers (Event correlation) Reports CMDB Discovery Engine (Topology) Perf. Alerts SNMP / Proprietary VirtualCenter Collector SNMP / SDK Performance DB Agent VM Agent VM Agent ESX Server VM Agent Legend Events Performance Topology Other

21 SNMP / Proprietary Illustration - Sample Use Case Operations Portal CMDB SNMP / Proprietary / SDK VirtualCenter 4 1 MoM Console Discovery Engine (Topology) Agent Manager of Managers (Event correlation) VM Agent 3 Collector VM Agent ESX Server Service Views Perf. Alerts SNMP / SDK Performance Reports 2 Performance DB VM Agent Reports Legend Events Performance Topology Other 1. A monitoring agent reports a physical NIC failure on an ESX server. The alert is sent to the Correlation layer of the MoM. 2. The correlation engine analyzes the flow of alerts from various sources (e.g. Hardware agent, VirtualCenter) against the topology data, and determines the NIC failure is the root cause. The root cause alert is forwarded to the Manager of Managers (MoM) 3. The MoM displays the root cause alert in the console, as well as the potential business impact: a finance application running on the ESX server may risk loosing network connectivity, if the second bonded NIC also fails 4. An operator reviews the alert. After reviewing the potential business impact to the finance application, he follows the procedure to move it to a safe ESX server using VirtualCenter

22 Configuration Discovering and tracking virtual configuration items

23 Configuration Overview Configuration : Identify, control and audit the information required to manage IT services by defining and maintaining a database of configuration items, their status, lifecycle and relationships, and any information needed to manage the quality of IT services cost-effectively. Key Objectives: Capture Configuration Items (CIs), i.e. components that make up the IT infrastructure required to deliver IT services Act as an authoritative source for relationships of IT components to IT components, and IT services / Business Functions Support other functions and processes by making configuration information available to them (e.g. problem management, change management, asset management..) Support IT inventory audit and reconciliation efforts Support root cause analysis and business impact to improve problem solving

24 Impact of virtualization on Configuration Activity Impact of Virtualization Provide information on relationships Keep the CMDB up to date Support root cause analysis Support the Change process Support IT Financial and Asset Need to distinguish between physical and logical servers in the CMDB Some CI attributes become more dynamic in a virtual world Manual updates difficult due to the dynamic nature of ESX-to-VM relationships Need to link applications and business functions to IT components (ESX, VMs) Root cause analysis needs to know what VM runs where, and when Provide information on physical servers, VMs and applications for change impact assessment Tracking of application resource usage for total cost of ownership

25 Addressing the challenges Add required CI types and sub-types for VMware ESX servers, ESX farms, Virtual Machines Define level of granularity (Re)define CI attributes and their lifecycle Adjust standard server CI attributes to virtual servers Add attributes Automatic updates of dynamic attributes or maintaining them outside the CMDB Update the data model Identify authoritative data sources and how to link them Define naming conventions that facilitate linking

26 Illustration - Sample Configuration Data Model in a Virtual World Cisco Catalyst Switch Owned Joe Smith Network HP-UX Server Server Farm Dependent Solaris Server Installed Software Installed Software Logical Server SRV001 Application 1 Physical Server Logical Server ESX001 Dependent Logical Server SRV002 Application 2 Dependent Installed Software Installed Software Physical Server Logical Server ESX002 Dependent Logical Server SRV003 Installed Software Application 3

27 Capacity Managing the growth of your virtual infrastructure

28 Capacity Overview Capacity : Ensure the optimal and cost-effective use of the IT Infrastructure to meet current and identified future business needs, by understanding how IT services will be used and matching IT resources to deliver these services at the agreed levels of service. Key Objectives: Optimize the capacity of the IT infrastructure Right Size at the Right Cost Monitor and/or influence usage Relate IT Policies and Procedures to the business plan Build Capacity for new services so that existing services are not impacted

29 Impact of virtualization on Capacity Activity Optimally Size Infrastructure Monitor Usage Trend Forecasting Procedure Demand Build Capacity Plan Impact of Virtualization Opportunity to right-size VM when sizing applications Distributed Resource Scheduler (DRS) allows automated, real-time adaptive server capacity New metrics to measure and track usage may be required, in particular at the ESX layer Correlation of VM and physical server trends New challenges forecasting for a dynamic virtual environment. E.g. application sizing, license management, forecasting demand Ease of provisioning may increase demand Variable costing allows IT to influence customer behavior Shrinking safety margin due to the shared resources Capacity plan may have to be updated more often

30 Addressing the challenges Define parameters for optimally-sized architecture Determine appropriate metrics for usage trending Update Capacity Forecasting procedures Define approach to influence customers usage behavior

31 Illustration Capacity activities Day-to-day tuning of VMware performance Influence demand for computing resources Various templates or standard offerings Predict the behavior of IT services Model needs to account for a virtual pool of resources Iterative Activities (Ongoing) Demand (Ongoing) Modeling (Ad Hoc) Capacity Plan (Regularly) Estimate the initial resource requirements Right-size VMs for a given application Changes based on application usage and growth VirtualCenter / VMware Capacity Planner Capacity Database (CDB) Application Sizing (Ad Hoc) CDB is used to produce: Service and Component based reports Exception Reporting Capacity Forecasts

32 Conclusion

33 Who can benefit from leveraging ITIL to manage a virtual environment? Reactive companies, that are implementing VMware, but may be introducing complexity that their current operations cannot handle Service Maturity Mature organizations that are in the process of rolling out VMware, and need to adapt their existing operational processes and tools Companies that have fairly mature operational processes, but need to improve them with best practices and apply them to VMware

34 Conclusion Rolling out the capabilities to fully operate a VMware environment is a challenging task, but it is a necessary step to achieving end-to-end Service VirtualCenter, and the range of VMware tools, support the technology foundation for a successful integration into existing IT operations tools ITIL provides IT Service best practices that can be leveraged to manage a VMware infrastructure Consider a phased approach by prioritizing ITIL functions to address: Maturity Financial Service Level Capacity Change & Problem Configuration Performance Fault and Incident

35 Questions

36 Laurent Mandorla Manager Services Fredrik Hallgårde Consultant Services rd Ave, New York, NY Tel: (917) Laurent.Mandorla@bearingpoint.com rd Ave, New York, NY Tel: (917) Fredrik.Hallgarde@bearingpoint.com Do not hesitate to contact us Thanks for your time today!

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